Machine for punching, ruling, and cutting cards, &amp;c.



No. 687,530. 7 Patented Nov'. 26, I901.

' D. E. HUNTER. MACHINE FOR PUNCHING, RULING, AND CUTTING CARDS, &.c. (Aumion'med July 5; 1900. (NoINlodeL) 9 Sheets-Sheet l.

4: NORRIS FEYERS co, wove-Limo,v wisnmarcm. a. c

m :E i Owl! I- No.. 687,530. Patented Nov. 26,-l90l.

n. E. HUNTER. MACHINE FDR PUNCHINI'LRULING, ANDCUTTING CARDS, 81.6.

(Application filed July- 5, 1900.)

(No Model.)

9 Sheets-Sheet 2.

z s 00.. moro-umo..wnsnmsmu I: c

No. 687,530. Patented Nov. 26, [90L D. E. HUNTER.

MACHINE FUR PUNCHING, RULING, AND CUTTING CARDS, 8 c.

(Application filed July 6, 1900.)

- 9 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(m5 Model.)

No. 687,530. Patented Nov. 26, I90l.

, 0. E. HUNTER. MACHINE FOR PUNCHING, BULING, AND CUTTING CARDS, &c.

(Application filqd July 5, 1900.)

(No Model.) 9 Sheets-Sheet 4.

\ a lhllllllxh IIIIIIIIILI NIIIII i i x l .lulnmm- 1 v llllllll No,687,530. Patented Nov.26, I901.

" n. E. HUNTER. J

MACHINE FOR PUNCHING, RULING, AND CUTTING CARDS, 81.9.

(Applicafion filed July 5, 1900.

9 Sheets-Sheet 5.

(No Model.)

No. 687,530. Patented Nov. 26, l90l.

D. E. HUNTER. V MACHINE FOB PUNCHING, RU L|NG, AND BUTTING CARDS, 8w.

(Application flied July 5, 1900.)

(N0 Modal.) 9 Sheets-Sheet 6.

TNE norms Prrn's' 00f. PHOTO-LITHQ. wnsmmmn. o. c.

'No. 687,530; Patented Nov; 26, I901;

n. E. HUNTER. MACHINE-FOR PUNCHING RULING, AND CUTTING CARDS; 8L0.

(Application filed.-Tuly 5, 1900.)

'9 Sheets-Sheet 7.

(No Model.)

TNE NORRIS vzrzns co. wnoramuo. WASHINGTON. o. c.

No..687,530. Patented Nov. 26. mm.

- n. E. HUNTER.

V MACHINE FOR PUNCHING, RULING, AND CUTTING CARDS, &c.

(Application filed July 5, 1900. (No Model.)

9 Sh'ets-Shaet a.

FIG. 10

\ Patented NOV. 26, 19M. D. E. HUNTER.

MAGHINE FDR PUNCHING, RULING; AND CUTTING CARDS, &c.-

(Application filed July 5, 1900.

9 Sheets-Sheet 9.

(No Model.)

PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID EVHUN TER, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN LIBRARY BUREAU, OFBOSTON, OF MASSACHUSETTS.

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION MACHINE FOR PUNCH ING, Rummy/mo currmeCARDS, &c.

srenclnron'rro n forming part of Letters Patent No. 687,530, datedNovember '26, 1901.

Application filed July 5, 1900.

Massachusetts, have invented an Improve-f ment in Machines for Punching,Ruling, and Cutting Cards, &c., of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention is a machinefor operating upon and preparing cards, paper,850., and has for its object the provision of means for facilitatingrapidity of manufacture and reducing not only the cost of manufacture,but the expense of installing and running the plant.

The introduction of the card system of indexes, records, and bookkeepingin general has gradually led to a great variety of special systems oftabulated matter, requiring an almost infinite variety of sizes of cardsand kindsof rulings,itbeing the custom,especially in largeestablishments, to provide systems of cards or sheets or booksespecially devised and ruled for the particular business and peculiarrequirements of the case in hand, and hence the business of furnishingthese cards or ruled records requires a plant capable of furnishing atshort notice a relatively small quantity of cards or sheets for thespecial requirements. Because of the rapid extension of this system ofrecords and the peculiarities thereof, as above explained, it has beennecessary to increase the number of machines and their complexity until,the capital involved and the space required, hands employed, andattendent outlay have become excessive.

Accordingly my present invention aims at not only increasing the output,but providing, a single machine which will do the work heretoforerequiring many machines and the attention of many employees, saidmachine being capable of quick adjustment to receive cards or othersheet matter of any size and having other adjustments whereby it may beruled according to any and all requirements and correspondingly punchedor perforated,

Serial No. 22,536. (No model.)

out as desired, and deposited in proper arrangement for packing.

My invention also in its most complete embodiment includes countingmechanism cooperating with the cards as they pass through the machine,automatic stop-motions for detecting any default at any part of themachine in properly passing the cards through, and many other features,as will be hereinafter more particularly explained.

The details of construction shown herein in the preferred embodiment ofmy invention and the operation thereof will be fully set forth in thefollowing description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and the invention will be more particularly defined in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are respectively right-hand andleft-hand side elevations of the machine. Fig. 3 is a top plan viewthereof. Figs. 4 and 5 are longitudinal vertical sections taken on theline 4; 4:, Figs. 3 and 6, looking in opposite directions. Fig. 6 is arear end elevation. Figs. '7 and 8 are vertical sections taken on theline 7, Fig. 3, looking, respectively, toward the right and toward theleft. Fig. 9 is a plan, partly in section, of the mechanism shown inFig. 8, the nipping mechanism being omitted. Fig. 10 is a broken detail,in front elevation, of the tension-rolls or yielding feed-roll. Fig. 11is a similar view of the ruling-spindles. Fig. 12 is a transversesection thereof. Fig. 13 is an enlarged detail, in verticalcrosssection, showing the shape of two of the ruling-rings. Fig. 14 is aview in enlarged side elevation, parts being broken away, showing aportion of the counting mechanism. Fig. 15 is a left-hand end view ofthe parts shown in Fig. 14. Fig. 16 is a sectional detail on the line 1616, Fig. 15. Fig. 17 is a detail similar to Fig. 15 of aportion of thelatter figure shown out of counting position. Fig. 18 isa sectionaldetail taken on the line 18 18, Fig. 15,1ookingtoward the right. Figs.19 to 27 are fragmentary views, in elevation and top plan, of a portionof the electric shipping or trip ping mechanism shown in end elevationin Fig. 2. Fig. is an enlarged cross-section,

views showing the same, respectively, in top plan, front, and endelevation.

Fig. 28 is a fragmentary view showing in top plan the strippingmechanism or flexors and a few adjacent parts. 7

The operating mechanism is mounted in any suitable frame A, which neednot be described, and is driven from a power-shaft at,

whose gear a meshes with a gear a driven by a belt-pulley a connected bya belt a with any suitable counter-shaft.

The mechanism consists in general of a stationary hopper B, whichcontains the cards or sheets of paper or other matter which is'to beruled, out, and otherwise manipulated and prepared, and feedingmechanism 0, which includes nipping devices and feed-rolls proper,friction-rolls D, which permit of a light feeding movement, but do notfeed the cards except at certain times, punching mechanism which servesto punch the cards as they are being fed, marking or ruling mechanism F,to which the cards are delivered by said friction feeding mechanism assoon as they have been punched, cutters G, separators H, which deliverthe cards in series to the receiving box or magazine K, which contains aportion of the counting mechanism L and devices for delivering the cardsin packages of the kind, number, and size desired, and various otherdetails, including the detectors and stop-motion devices beforementioned, all of these mechanisms being adapted to adjustment and suchchanges as are necessary to accommodate them quickly to the productionof all varieties of special cards or ruled matter which may be orderedto suit the particular requirements of individual consumers, as beforeexplained.

For clearness of understanding I will now describe the detailedconstruction of the individual parts above enumerated, it beingunderstood also that in this description and in the drawings I haveomitted many structural details and have confined the same mainly tothose constructions of invention which go to make up the novel featureshereinafter claimed as constituting my invention.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 7,

it will be seen that the hopper consistsof'a grill-like support made upof slats b, mounted on cross-plates 1), side alining fingers orstandards b carried by cross-bars b and.

sleeves b 19 mounted on stationarytubes or bars I)", the rear guides 12and their sleeves b being adjustable on said bars b by means of ai'ack band pinion b operated by a handwheel 1 4 and end guides or standards bmounted at the inner ends of rods Z2 adjustable in sleeves 9 at the endsof the hopper, the inward adjustment of the guides 19 serving toaccommodate the hopper to different lengths of sheets and the rearguides 19 serv ing to accommodate the hopper to difierent widths ofsheets.

My machine operates upon the principle of having the cards remainstationary in the hopper, pulling down the front edge of the bottomsheet or card by a suction device, and then moving the feeding mechanismrearwardly, the downwardly-bent front edge of said bottom sheet beingmeanwhile engaged by an open mouth of said feeding mechanism andswallowed thereby or shaved off, as it were, from the bottom of thestack, and when the feeding mechanism has moved back so as thus toembrace the sheet sufficiently a nipping device is caused to engage thesheet slightly back from the front edge thereof, and then the feedingmechanism moves forward with said sheet until the free front edgethereof is caught by feeding rolls, whereupon the said nipping deviceinstantly releases the sheet and permits the feeding-rolls to pull thesame forward and deliver it to the friction feeding mechanism.

The mechanism which produces the above operations is sufficientlyindicated in Figs. 2 to 7.

The ram or reciprocating part of the feeding mechanism is locatedbeneath the hopper B and comprises a frame composed of crossrods 0,preferably tubular for lightness, and end rods 0 and an intermediateplate or rod 0 which may be properly braced in any desirable fashion,and at its ends is rigidly secured at c a plate 0 provided at its middleportion with an inwardly-extending nose or separator 0 which forms theupper part of the receiving-mouth, into which the card is shaved off, asindicated in Fig. 7, the lower portion of said mouth being formed by aplate 0 pivotally mounted at its ends just below the plate a and causedto operate at desired times by a crank 0 pivotally connected by a link 0to a lever 0 intermedially pivoted at 0 on a bell-crank lever o pivotedat e on the frame of the machine and connected at its upper end to theram for moving all the feeding mechanism thus far described, said lever0 being connected bya link 0 to a bell-crank 0 mounted on the lever 0and operated by the engagement of a cam c with an arm 0" thereof. Alsocarried by the ram is a cylinder 0 which is caused by the and tube 0connected thereto bya tube 0 the tube 0 carrying at its upper end thesuction device proper, 0 which is connected to the ram-frame by apivoted link 0 and has intermediate its length projecting lugs 0 adaptedto be engaged by the jaw 0 of a lever 0 pivotally mounted on a shaft 0and provided with a lug 0 whereby it is raised to the position shown inFig. 8 at suitable times by the engagement with said lug of the lug e onthelever e operated by the engagement of a cam 0 with the end of aplunger 0, pivotally connected to said lever 0 The righthand end of theforward portions of the parts 0 o constitutes the receiving-mouth, whichengulfs the card and permits the same to pass between said parts and hasa movement sufficiently far to the front of the machine to permit thedeflected end of the card to project slightly beyond its rear end, andjust as the card has reached this'position the part c is turned on itspivot, so as to constitute, with the part 0 a nipping device and acts topinch the card sufficiently to feed it as the ram moves back on itsreturn stroke. The card is then in the position shown in Fig. 7,and upona further movement to the left, as shown in said figure, the card entersbetween a pair of feed-rolls 0 0 which are then separated, as shown inFig. 7, by any suitable mechanism, the upper roll c being herein shownas raised by rods e pivoted on cranks 0 provided at the opposite ends ofa shaft 0 rocked at suitable intervals by a lever 0 in engagement at itsfree end with a cam 0 as best shown in Fig. 1. The nipping deviceshaving carried the card intothe position shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 8, thecam 0 permits the rolls to come together, whereupon their gears 0 erotated by an idler 0, cause said rolls to positively feed the cardforward. An automatic counter is operated by a trip 0 whose arm 0 isnormally raised by the presence of a card, thereby bringing its free enda into striking engagement with an arm 0 of a rock-shaft 0, whoseconnections will be presently described.

If a card is obstructed or for any reason,

fails to be fed between the nipping devices, the trip 0 is permitted'bythe absence of a card to fall into a lowered position out of strikingrange with the arm c and hence to insure that only one card at a timeshall be pulled down I provide a stripper or fiexor, herein shown ascomposed of two retardingfingers 0 0 pivoted at 0 provided with ashoulder 0 from which depends a plunger 0 adapted to be engaged at itslower end by a hub 0 mounted in an arm a, mounted loosely on the shaft 0before mentioned,and limited in its movements by a set-screw 0 in astationary arm a projecting from a tie rod or brace and adapted to beheld up at certain times by a finger c pivoted at 0 and adjustable byaset-screw 0 said finger a being held steady bya spring 0 As the rambegins to move toward the front of the machinea projection c on theunder side of the lever e strikes against the upper end of the finger 0and moves it into the position shown in Fig. 1. Meanwhilethe shaft 0 hasbeen rocked so as to raise the suction device 0 by the engagementtherewith of the lever 0 and as the latter raises the suction device thearm 0 is also raised by the engagement therewith of the lug 0 Thesuction device or box 0 is caused to act upon the bottommost card orsheet of paper, preferably just before the retardingfingers 0 engage anddeflect said card, or

the suction device and retarding-fingers may be actuatedsimultaneously,according to the kind of stock. The moment the suctiondevice and stripping mechanism have been raised the finger 0 snapsbeneath the lever 0 into sustaining position, as shown in Fig. 8, andthereby the retarding=fingers 0 0 are held in raised positionindependently of the further movements of the mechanism which raisedthem. Thereupon the suction device is lowered into substantially theposition shown in Fig. 7, and the continued movement of the ram causesthe separator c to enter the hollow or dish-shaped cavity made betweenthe lowermost card and the next card above by the deflection produced insaid lowermost card by the pulling down of its middle portion by thesuction-box c ,while the fingers e 0 at the same time hold up said cardat each side of and above the suctionbox. The bottommost card ismaintained deflected, as described, momentarily, but yet for asufiicieut time to permit the separator 0 to get with certainty betweenthe bottommost card and the next card, whereupon the further movementofthe ram withdraws the fin er from su ortin en a ement with.

z: p a a: b

the arm 0 and thereby permits the parts to drop into the position shownin Fig. 7. At its forward end the arm 0 is provided with a beveled end-0 which when the arm n is moved forward slides beneath a ledge c on astem a, normally held down by a spring 0 said stem at its inner endpassing through a gland of the vacuum-cylinder and having a valve o onits extreme inner end, which serves to open and close the port 0 whichcontrols the action of the suction apparatus, so that by this means thesuction-box 0 is brought into active operation atthe moment that it hasreached the position shown in Fig. 8 and when the stripper is in properrelation with the cards.

The suction apparatus is positively and quickly lowered bya spring a,and the stripper is also given a quick action bya spring Diiferent kindsand weights of paper require diiferent manipulation, and accordingly Ihave mounted the hub 0 eccentrically, as indicated in Fig. 8, beingretained in position by a set-screw 0 whereby the amount of retardingaction or separating, bending, or deflecting of the bottom card or sheetof paper maybe varied to suit the special requirements. The adjustmentat 0 is provided to prevent undue lost motion of parts and enable themachine to act more promptly in operating the valve 0 The card havingbeen fed along, as stated, is received by a flared open end at ofopposite guides at, which are arranged at intervals parallel to eachother throughout the width of the machine, the card being receivedbetween tension-rolls or friction feeds (1 (i arranged in oppositepairs, there being herein shown two pairs thereof in front of thepunching mechanism E and two pairs at the rear thereof, said rolls beingshown in detail in Fig. 10, where it will be seen that the roll 61 hastwo ribs and roll (i a single rib arranged in groups normally travelingin a plane slightly lower than the peripheral plane of the two ribs,whereby the card or sheet of paper is bent, as shown in Fig. 10, thebend, however, being extremely slight, so as not to change the directionof feed of the paper or interfere with its proper smooth plane conditionand yet sufficient to give a frictional pulling hold of the rolls on thepaper sufficient to enablethem to feed the paper forward. One object ofthis mechanism is to permit the tension or feeding rolls at d to havecontinuous movement without interfering with the stoppage of the card orpaper for the purpose of being punched.

The stopping mechanism is herein shown in the form of a gate 6, having arib 6, against which the front edge of the paper or card abuts at themoment when it is neces-' sary that it should be stopped in order to bepunched, it being understood that the moment the card comes against thegate its further progress is immediately stopped and then it is punched,whereupon the gate moves out of engagement therewith and the furtherfeeding of the card takes place, all this occurring without any haltbeing required of v the moving parts, thereby making it possible notonly to. save power, but to materially increase the rapidity ofoperation. The gate 6 is'pivoted at 6 (see Fig. 4) on cranks e of ashaft 6 and is raised and lowered at suitable times by a rod .6 pivotedat e to a lever e whose free end a is actuated by a cam 6 In order thatthe gate 6 may be kept level, I have secured the same to the upper endof a bar 6 pivoted at e to a link e pivoted at e at substantially thesame angle to the pivotal center of the lever e as the pivot e bears tothe center of the shaft e.

As herein shown, the perforating apparatus is mounted at about themiddle of the machine in a frame 9 having slideways at its ends whichsupport and guide a punch-carrier 6 having a plurality of gangs ofpunches.

As already explained, the present machine has for'one of its objects theprovision of means for the accommodation of various widths, lengths,and, in fact, practically all kinds of card and ruling Work which therequirements of a large factory demand, and I have already explained themanner in which my machine is adaptable for feeding all these variouskinds, &c., of cards. The same requirements demand that the punch shallbe adjustable; but inasmuch as a punching mechanism must be extremelyrigid and solid in order to act with absolute accuracy in rapid work, onperhaps very thick paper or cardboard, I have found it preferable toprovide instead of a gang of adjustable punches a series of gangs ofrigid punches, said plurality of punches being spaced along the punchcarrier or bar at intervals corresponding to the standard measurementsof cards proceeding on the principle of tenths, as is clearly evidentviewing Fig. 3, and each punch a" is capable of being withdrawn fromactive operation, being normally held down by a pin against the upperend of which bears a set-screw 6 said parts being preferably carried ina removable punch-holder 6 the punch also being preferably further heldin place by a side set-screw 6 The punch is surrounded by a smallstripper e slidingly supported on pins e depending from thepunch-holder, said strippers being normally held downward by springs 6Below the punch is a die or proper cavity formed in a die-box 6 thechips or punchings falling through a hole 6 The punch-carrier andpunches are simultaneously operated by rods 6 secured at their upperends to the punch-carrier, and at their lower ends operated by cranks efast on a shaft 6 and actuated by a face-cam e and lever 6 As alreadyexplained, this machine is intended to accommodate all kinds and sizesof paper or cards which the usual manufacture demands, and accordingly,in order to accommodate different lengths of cards, I have mounted theledge e of the gate e adjustably on the lower part of the gate, saidledge or ledge-support being provided with a depending ear, which isengaged by an adjustingbolt 6, whereby the ledge e may be shifted nearerto or farther from the punch, according to the requirements of the case.

It will be understood that the cards merely hesitate, as it were, orstop a small fraction of a second for the punching, and the moment thatthey have been punched the gate e drops out of engagement with thecards, the latter being prevented from following the movement of thegate by the guides at, and the card then immediately continues itsfeeding movement by the frictional engagement therewith of thetension-feed and passes on to the ruling mechanism, there being hereinshown a prin- ICC cipal ruling-spindle fand a cooperating lower spindlef, each provided with cooperating rings f f and held yieldingly towardeach other by a spring 1", an inking-roll f and pan f being provided inconvenient proximity thereto.

As the paper or cardboard passes beyond the ruling-spindles it is caughtby a combined feeding and cut-ting mechanism, shown as comprising upperand lower rolls 9 g, being each provided with middle cutting-rings g gand feed-rings or tension-collars g preferably composed of rubber, therings 9 being fast on the shaft or roll g, and the rings g mountedloosely on the shaft g, being simply held against rotation thereon by aspline g and pushed constantly into close shearing pressure against thecutter g by a pressureblock 9 preferably of fiber, carried by an arm 9(Shown in plan in Fig. 3 and in elevation in Fig. 4.) The result of theabove construction is that as the paper or cardboard is engaged by thecutting mechanism the rubber disks or rings thereon seize the same at aplurality of points simultaneously and make it impossible that the papershould be thrown sidewise or slued to one side or the other.

One of the most common and serious faults heretofore experienced inattempting to make a large number of cuts simultaneously across a sheetof paper has been that each cutter would tend to turn or deflect thepaper very slightly from a rectilinear path, and the aggregate effect ofthe series of cutters would be that the edges of the strips instead ofbeing perfectly straight and accurate would be more or less curved. Thisdefect has heretofore rendered it impracticable to perform the operationwhich it is the purpose of this machine to performviz., to operate on alarge number of places on the paper at once-and I therefore regard thisfeature of my invention as of considerable importance. By having therubber disks ,spaced apart, as shown and described, the twisting orsluing tendency of the cutters is counteracted or prevented, and thepaper is maintained perfectly true, while at the same time themaintaining of the cutters fast in accurate shearing alinement andengagement reduces the sluing tendency to a minimum. As the paper is cutinto separate sheets or cards the latter are received be tween thefeed-rolls h h, the latter roller being preferably covered with rubber.As the cards are fed by the rollers h it they are engaged by deflectors72 h mounted on a transverse rod h, by means of which the adjacent cardsor streams of cards,as it were, are guided downwardly and upwardly,respectively, the former stream of cards being received betweenfeed-rolls 72 h and the upper stream of cards being received betweenrolls h 72 being also preferably guided between the respect ive sets ofguides 71-9 h In order that the deilectors may correspond accuratelywith the various widths of cards which are being run through the machineat any time, I mount the deflectors 71,2 h slidingly on a'fixed rod hprovided with a spline h along which the said feed-rolls are received ina magazine and the cards passing between the upper set of rolls arereceived by a magazine 7t. This deflecting or separating of adjacentsets of cards is also an extremely important matter in this machine, asit is obvious that in order to make practical the manipulation andcompletion of a large number of cards side by side, fed into the machinein the form of long sheets of paper to be delivered from the machine inthe form of finished cards, and at the same time have said cards out,punched, ruled, the. with absolute accuracy to the same extent as wouldbe accomplished by the most accurate handmachine operating on asinglecard, it is necessary for the best results that the paper or cardboardshould remain even after it is out without lateral disturbance, and yetthe cards must be kept separate and without confusion, such as wouldinevitably result if the cards as they were delivered from the cuttersshould simply be dropped into a hopper or magazine. Accordingly,inasmuch as the cards pass through the rolls h h impractical contactedge to edge with each other and would therefore drop into a promiscuousheap, I have succeeded in solving the difficulty by simply raising everyalternate stream of cards as it pours through the rolls 7?. 72, so thatone stream goes into an upper hopper or magazine and the next streamgoes into the lower-hopper or magazine, the result being that the uppermagazine contains, for instance, as herein shown, four heaps of cardsseparated from each other by intervening spaces equal to the width ofthe card, and the lower magazine contains five heaps of cards similarlyseparated.

Viewing Fig. 2, it will be seen that the gear a drives a gear 2, onwhose shaft is mounted a pinion 3, which is in mesh with other pinions4:, 5, and 6, and from these latter the entire train of mechanism thusfar described is driven by pinions and intermediate gears.

Referring now to the mechanism brought into action by the trip 0",before mentioned, which is, as already described, raised by the presenceof a card between the nippers into alinemcnt with the arm 0 so as tostrike the latter when the ram moves back and thereby rock therock-shaft 0 it will be seen, referring to Figs. 2 and 14 to 18, thatsaid rocksha'ft has at one end a crank Z, which carries a click-pawl lin engagement. at its free end with a ratchet-wheel Z The ratchet-wheelis provided with teeth corresponding in nu mber to the cards which areto compose a package, being provided with a retarding device, shown inthe form of a spring F, to prevent its accidental overcarrying, andhaving a finger Z provided at its free end with awedgeshaped engagingportion Z Fig. 16, adapted to engage once in every cycle with aroll Z,projecting from a stirrup Z mounted on a rod i pivoted at Z loosely onthe ratchet or counter-shaft and normally held outwardly by a spring Zcarrying at its lower end a latch Z pivoted thereon at Z and restingwith its free end on the projecting end Z of the bell-crank lever Zpivoted at Z to the frameof the machine and connected by a link I to theadjacent crank e of the shaft 0, already described. It will be recalledthat the shaft 0 is rocked every time the ram is reciprocated ,thisrocking having already been described as causing the primary feed-rolls0 c to separate for the reception-of a card. This same rocking movementcauses the bellcrank Z to swing up and down, thereby similarly movingthe latch Z This latch when the rod Z is in its outermost position, asshown in Fig. 17, is free of engagement with a lever Z on the forwardend of a shaft Z journaled in a bracket Z carried by the frame of themachine.

' by a spring 1 in which position it engages a trip I, pivoted at Z inone member Z ofa clutch, the other member of which is shown at If", thetwo being normally disconnected, assh'own in Fig. 18, but beingconnected by r the engagement of a pawl Z operated by the.

4 two are locked together, and the rotary mospective magazines.

tion of the latter Z is communicated thereby to the part Z which carriesa cam Z This cam bears on a roll Z of a lever Z pivoted on the frame ofthe machine, and having connected at its free end a rod 1, which servesto operate at its opposite end a bell-crank lever Z connected by a linkZ to a crank Z of the magazine, said crank and bell-crank serving tooperate shafts Z Z, respectively, from which depend gates Z Z of the re-Below said gates are extensions or receiving-chambers Z Z, into whichthe cards contained in the magazines k k may slide when the gates areopen. The cards rest by gravity against the gates, which,

1 it will be understood, may, if desired, themselves constitute thebottoms of the magazines or be otherwise arranged, as convenience orpreference may dictate, the idea being to have the cards retained in themagazine or magazines until the proper number have accumulated,whereupon they are automatically discharged by the tripping of therestraining devices or gates. The upper cham- The shaft l at its forwardend car-- ries a dog l normally held against a stop Z ber has its lowerportion pivoted at Z and normally maintained in locked position by alatch Z engaging the upper portion of the lower chamber Z,- to be liftedwhen desired by a cord or pulley 1, so as to give access to the lowerchamber for the removal of cards.

From the above-description it will be seen that each card as it passesthrough the machine is counted and that when the predeterminednumber-for instance, one hundredof cards have been depo'sitedin eachmagazine across the machine, both in the upper and in the lower tier,the gates will be automatically opened and each group or package of onehundred cards will be automaticallydeposited in the lowerchambers,whereupon the gates will be closed until another complement ofcards has been deposited in the magazines, whereupon theoperation isautomatically repeated.

As already stated, my main endeavor in inventing this machine has beento provide mechanism which operates on sheets of paper or cardboard, soas to turn out a finished product with absoluteaccuracy as to finish andas to numbers or packages of cards and perform all its'operationsautomatically with extreme rapidity, so as to minimize time, labor,power, and space, and thereby provide a margin of profit which willwithstand competition, and in order to make this possible it isnecessary that the machine should not be liable to mutilate a series ofcards or run de fectively. .Accordingly I'have provided at the importantpoints in the machine autojmatic arresters or stop-motions, whereby anydefect will be detected and the machine will be stopped before any morecards have been spoiled, said mechanism being shown best in Fig. 4,being herein shown as electrically connected, although it will beunderstood that any equivalent construction may be employed. At anysuitable place I provide a battery or other source of energy m, (seeFigs. 4 and 21,) from which I take connections m m to make-and-breakcontacts m m, preferably normally separated and brought into contact bythe rocking of a bar m provided with a finger m adapted to be depressedby the spring or contact m and operated by a detector m'. The latterhangs just over the path of the upwardly-deflected cards as they passinto the upper magazine, and if a card should get-jammed against thesame it would raise the detector sufficiently to close the circuit.

At the front or entrance end of the machine I also provide contactswhich contacts are connected by wires m m with a main wire and branchconnection. As many of these detectors may be provided as desired, therebeing another set herein shown at m.

In connection with a suitable part of the driving mechanism of themachine I provide a controlling set of contacts, one of them be ingherein shown as provided at m" on the end of a finger m, projecting fromthe shaft 0 the other contact m being stationary on the machine. Thewiring and arrangement are such that when the shaft 0 rocks to raise theprimary feed-rollers in order to receive a fresh series of cards to befed into the machine the controlling-contacts are brought into positionto close the circuit, and if at this instant a card is still engaged bythe next set of feed-rollers, which properly should not be the case, thecontacts at one side or the other of said feed-rollers will also beclosed, thereby completing the circuit and stopping the machine, as willbe presently explained. So, likewise, if when the primary feed-rollersare separated to receive anew feed of cards anyirregularity has occurredat the deflectors or at the outgoing end of the machine the circuit willbe completed and the machine stopped.

Any suitable tripping clutch mechanism may be provided for stopping thefeeding of the machine upon closing or bringing into action theelectrical circuit or equivalent device, there being herein shown,viewing Figs.

2, 6, 19, and 27, a preferred form comprising asolenoid m whichoperatesatripping mechanism for alever m heavily weighted at its end77122 and bifurcated at 771 where it engages and shifts a shipper-block072 to which is connected any usual kind of friction or other clutch mThe tripping mechanism is shown as comprising an armature 777. slidinglypivoted at the top of apost m, adjacent the solenoid, and normally heldin raised and retracted position by a spring m but when attracted by thesolenoid the inwardly-projecting free end of said armature is loweredopposite the end m of a swinging lever m pivoted at 111- and engaged atits opposite end an by an oval cam 721 The upward movement of the leverm then engages the end of the armature, and thereby pushes forward alatch m against its spring m and out of supporting engagement with a lug011 on one side of the weighted end m, permitting the latter to drop anddisconnect, by means of the clutch, the cam-shaft a from itsdrit'ing-gear at, so that no more fresh cards will be fed into themachine; butpreferably the other parts of the machine will continue tooperate so as to free the machine of the obstructing or disarrangedcards which have caused the trouble.

I have already described to quite an extent the operation of my machine,and it will therefore be sufficieut to summarize it as follows: Thesheets of paper or cardboard are stacked evenly in the hopper, beingheld in place by the side and end standards, which have been accuratelyadjusted toward or from each other as required to accommodate theprecise size of sheets which are to be operated upon. The ram is thenmoved forwardtoward the front end of the machine, and. in doing so thesuction device raises into approximate contact with the bottom sheet atthe rear edge thereof and quickly sucks downwardly on the same,whereupon the strippers or flexorsbend the card, thereby strippingtherefrom'the sheetabove the same and providing an opening properlyshaped and disposed to receive the separator, whose nose enters betweenthe bottommost sheet and those next above it and permits the saidbottommost sheet to be shaved off and to enter between the nippers inthe position shown in Fig. 7, whereupon, the suction-valve and strippershaving previously been rendered inoperative, the sheet is carriedforward by the nippers and enters between the raised primary feed-rolls,and the counter mechanism is thereby simultaneously moved forward onenotch. The sheet then passes between the tension feed or friction rollsuntil it gets in exactly proper position beneath the pn nchingapparatus, whereupon it 'is suddenly stopped by the raising of the gate6 and the gang of punches descends instantly, and thereupon, the cardhaving been punched and the punches having been raised, the gate movesout of the way andthe sheet continues to feed along, coming next to theruling mechanism, in which it is properly ruled, and thence passes tothe cutting mechanism and from thence, without any chance of sluing ortwisting, it passes directly to the deflectors and is deposited inseparate piles in the magazines, which retain the successive cards untilthe correct number thereof are received, whereupon they are dischargedand thereafter collected.

I am aware that cutting mechanism and ruling mechanism and punchingmechanism and card-feeding mechanism have all been provided heretoforein individual machines, and I do not therefore intend herein to limitmyself to the specific details of these separate mechanisms, as myobject herein has not been so much to invent specific mechanisms forthese individual operations as it has been to invent a single unitarymachine which would accomplish automatically without any manual handlingof the cards or sheets all the operations which heretofore have requireda number of machines, and therefore a large floor-space, correspondingamount of shafting and counter-shafting, attendants, and increasedexpenses.

vention to provide a single mechanism in which large sheets of paper orcardboard might be placed to be turned out finally in the form ofcompletely-finished cards, ruled, punched, and cut with absoluteprecision.

I therefore repeat that it has been the main object of my present in- Inmy claims hereinafter I have claimed certain subcombinations as well asthe main combinationor complete machine, and it will accordingly beunderstood that various portions of the machine maybe omitted to goodpurpose for securing certain objects, but that for complete results themachine will be used as already described, it being understood that manychanges and substitutions may be resorted to Within the spirit and scopeof my invention.

Certain features of my invention as herein shown are new inthemselvesas, for instance, the ruling-spindles and the friction ortension feed-rolls-and I have claimed the same in other applicationsfiled concurrently herewith.

Having described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. In a machine of the kind described,means for receiving and retaininga stack of sheets, positive feeding-mechanism for receiving and feedingsaid sheets in succession, intermittingly-acting feeding mechanismarranged to receive the sheets from said positive feed,

punching mechanism arranged to punch the sheets in the intervals betweenthe feeding thereof by said intermittent feed, ruling mechanism, saidintermittent feed feeding the sheets to said ruling mechanism, cuttersand feeders adjacent said ruling mechanism receiving the sheets from thelatter, cutting them transversely and feeding them onward, and mechanismfor maintaining the individual streams of cards separate and preventingthem from becoming mixed together.

2. In a machine of the kind described,means for receiving and retaininga stack of sheets, positive feeding mechanism for receiving and feedingsaid sheets in succession, intermittently-acting feeding mechanismarranged-to receive the sheets from said positive feed, operatingmechanism for operating upon the said sheets in the intervals betweenthe feeding thereof by said intermittent feed, a second operatingmechanism for operating upon the sheets, said intermittent feed feedingthe sheets to said second operating mechanism, cutters and feedersadjacent said second operating mechanism receiving the sheets from thelatter, cutting them transversely and feeding them onward, separatingmechanism for separating the individual streams of cards as they arecut, and means for adjusting all the aforesaid mechanism as far asnecessary to accommodate it accurately to various sizes of sheets whichit is desired to operate upon and which the machine is required tomanipulate.

8. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper for holding a stack ofsheets and delivering the same, one by one, feeding mechanism forfeeding the sheets, and operating mechanism for operating upon thesheets, said feeding mechanism including a suction apparatus and astripping apparatus, said strippingapparatus having a finger extendingat one side of the suction apparatus, and means for moving said suctionapparatus and stripping apparatus into engagement with the bottom sheet,the stripping apparatus flexing said sheet when the latter is helddownward by said suction apparatus, and a separator for entering betweensaid flexed and superimposed sheets and separating the bottom sheet.

4. In a machine of the kind described, ahopper for holding a stack ofsheets and delivering the same, one by one, feeding mechanism forfeeding the sheets, and operating mechanism for operating upon thesheets, said feeding mechanism including a suction apparatus and astripping apparatus, said stripping apparatus having a finger extendingat one side of the suction apparatus, and means for moving said suctionapparatus and stripping apparatus into engagement with the bottom sheet,the stripping apparatus flexing said sheet when the latter is helddownward by said suction apparatus, a separator for entering betweensaid flexed and superimposed sheets and separating the bottom sheet, andnippers for engaging said separated sheet back from the feeding endthereof and carrying the same to other feeding mechanisms.

5. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper for holding a stack ofsheets and delivering the same, one by one, feeding mechanism forfeeding the sheets, and operating mechanism for operating upon thesheets, said feeding mechanism including a suction apparatus and astripping apparatus, said stripping apparatus having a finger extendingat one side of the suction apparatus, and means for moving said suctionapparatus and stripping apparatus into engagement with the bottom sheet,the stripping apparatus flexing said sheet when the latter is helddownward by said suction apparatus, a separator for entering betweensaid flexed and superimposed sheets and separating the bottom sheet, andmeans operated by the actuator of said stripper for bringing into actionsaid suction apparatus.

6. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper for receiving a stack ofsheets, and means for flexing the feeding edge of -the bottommost sheet,whereby a pocket or cavity is formed between said sheet and thesuperimposed sheets, and means cooperating with said flexing mechanismfor entering into said pocket-like space and separating the bottommostsheet from the remaining sheets, means for carrying said separated sheetforward,and other feeding mechanism for receiving said sheet and feedingit forward in the machine.

7. In a machine of the kind described, ahopper for receiving a stack ofsheets, and feeding mechanism for feeding said sheets succes sively,said feeding mechanism including a mouth or passage through which thesheets pass in being fed, a trip normally in the path of the sheets insaid mouth, counting mechanism having a movable portion or actuatingdevice normally out of the path of said trip, said trip being moved intothe path of said actuator by the presence of a sheet, and means formoving said trip into engagement with said actuator in the feedingoperation of the machine.

8. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper to receive a stack ofsheets, a reciprocable ram beneath said hopper, a suction device carriedby said ram and movable relatively thereto, a lifter for raising saidsuction device into operative position, said lifter being stationaryrelatively'to said ram and having a jaw or engaging surface openingtoward said ram to receive said suction apparatus, means for raisingsaid lifter and thereby raising said suction device, said suction devicebeing moved out of connection with said lifter by the movement of saidram, and means for receiving the sheet pulled down by said suctiondevice and feeding it in the machine.

9. In a machine of the kind described, a hop per to support a stack ofsheets, means for pulling down the feeding edge of the bottommost sheet,a stripper for flexing said edge of said sheet and thereby separating itfrom the superposed sheets, said stripper resting beneath said sheet andhaving a retarding-finger for pressing against the sheet at one side ofsaid pulling-down means, means for raising said finger, and a device foradjusting said raising means according tothe requirements of differentgrades of stock.

10. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper to support a stack ofsheets, means for pulling down the feeding edge of the bottommost sheet,a stripper for flexing said edge of said sheet and thereby separating itfrom the superposed sheets, said stripper resting beneath saidsheet andhaving a retarding-finger for pressing against the sheet at one side ofsaid pulling-down means, and a lever for raising said finger, said leverhaving an eccentric hub adjustably mounted therein for lifting saidfinger.

11. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper to support a stack ofsheets, means for pulling down the feeding edge of the bottommost sheet,a stripper for flexing said edge of said sheet and thereby separating itfrom the superposed sheets, said stripper resting beneath said sheet andhaving a retarding-finger for pressing against the sheet at one side ofsaid pulling-down means, a lever for raising said finger, said leverhaving an eccentric hub adj ustably mounted therein for lifting saidfinger, and means for regulating the amplitude of movement of saidlever.

12. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper to support a stack ofsheets, a suction apparatus for pulling down the feeding end of thebottommost sheet, a stripper for flexing the feeding end of said'sheetadjacent said suction device, means for raising said stripper to flexingposition, means operated by the movement of said suction device foractuating said stripper, and a sustaining device for maintaining saidstripper in operative position after the raising means thereof hasbecome inoperative.

13. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper having opposite sidesof extreme length, means for adjusting the width-ofsaid hopper, and arack-and-pinion mechanism adjacent the ends of said sides for adjustingthe latter, said mechanism being operated by a single shaft formaintaining said sides in parallelism as they are adjusted.

14. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper to receive a stack ofsheets, feeding mechanism including a mouth or passage through which thesheets pass, the opposite sides of said passage being movable toward andfrom each other to constitute a nipping device for nipping the sheet andcarrying the same, positive feed-rolls, and means for separating saidfeed-rolls, said nipping device carrying said sheet to said separatedrolls, and means permitting the latter to close upon said sheets andfeed the same forward.

15. In a machine of the kind described, a hopper to support sheets to befed, feeding mechanism therefor, positive feed-rolls to re- 1 ingmechanism, and means for stopping the sheets while being punched andpermitting them to continue immediately upon being punched.

17. In a machine of the kind described, means for supplying sheets insuccession, a feeding mechanism to receive said sheets, a punchingmechanism to punch said sheets, and a gate movable into the path of saidsheets to stop the same for punching.

18. In a machine of the kind described, means for supplying sheets insuccession, a feeding mechanism to receive said sheets, a punchingmechanism to punch said sheets,

and a gate movable into the path of said sheets to stop the same forpunching, said gate being adjustable toward and from said punchingmechanism to regulate the positions of the holes in the sheets.

19. In a machine of the kind described,

means for supplying sheets in succession, a

feeding mechanism to receive said sheets, a punching mechanism to punchsaid sheets, said punching mechanism comprising a punch-carrier movableup and down, a plurality of gangs of punches carried thereby, saidpunches being spaced apart to correspond to the standard measurements ofcards,

and means for independently retracting the punches to inoperativeposition,whereby any gang of punches may be used and the others renderedinoperative.

20. In a machine of the kind described, means for supplying sheets insuccession, a feeding mechanism to receive said sheets, punchingmechanism and ruling mechanism for respectively punching and ruling thesheets as thus fed by said feeding mechanism, and means for adjustingsaid mechanisms to accommodate various sizes of work.

21. In a machine of the kind described, means for supplying sheets insuccession, a feeding mechanism to receive said sheets, punchingmechanism and cutting mechanism for respectively punching and cuttingthe sheets as thus fed by said feeding mechanism, and means forreceiving the contiguous cards or cut portions of the sheets anddeflecting them in alternate streams or series into separate magazines,and said magazines.

22. In a machine of the kind described, means for supplying sheets insuccession, a feeding mechanism to receive said sheets, and combinedfeeding and cutting rolls consisting of alternate disk cutters andfeed-rings spaced apart according to the requirements of the Widths ofcards being cut, the feedrings serving to contact with and feed thecards or strips while the sheet is being severed by the cutters, anddeflectors for engaging the alternate series of strips and deflectinginto separate paths.

23. In a machine of the kind described,combined feed rolls and cuttersarranged opposite each other and each comprising a series of diskcutters overlapping at their edges, and feed-rings or tension-collars,said feedrings having a friction-surface, such as rubber or othersuitable material, and being opposite each other to receive and retainthe sheet between them and both feed it and keep it from sluing whilebeing cut by the overlapping disk cutters.

24. Inamachine ofthe kind described,feeding mechanism for feeding sheetsin succession, cutting mechanism for cutting said sheets into contiguousstrips, and deflectors arranged angularlyto each other for deflectingalternate strips into opposite paths,whereby the strips as they aredeposited fall separated from each other byintervening spaces.

magazines or receptacles for receiving the strips thus cut, and.deflectors adjacent said cutters for deflecting alternate strips intothe upper magazine, and the remaining strips into the lower magazine,said deflectors and cut ters being adjustable transversely of the ma:chine to accommodate different widths of strips or cards.

27. In a machine of the kind described,feeding mechanism for feedingsheets in succession, cutting mechanism for cutting said sheets intocontiguous strips, upper and lower magazines or receptacles forreceiving the strips thus cut, and deflectors adjacent said cutters fordeflecting alternate strips into the upper magazine, and the remainingstrips into the lower magazine, said deflectors consisting ofindependent fingers extending in the different required directions andhaving rear portions mounted on and partially embracing a transverse rodand movable longitudinally of said rod, being interlocked thereonagainst rotary movement.

28. In a machine of the kind described,feeding mechanism for feedingsheets in succession, cutting mechanism for cutting said sheets intocontiguous strips, upper and lower magazines or receptacles forreceiving the strips thus cut, and deflectors adjacent said cutters fordeflecting alternate strips into the upper magazine, and the remainingstrips into the lower magazine, said deflectors consisting ofindependent fingers extending in the difierent required directions andhaving rear portions mounted on and partially embracing a transverse rodand movable longitudinallyof said rod and interlocked thereon againstrotary movement, each deflector having a friction device for retardingits said longitudinal movement.

29. Inamachineofthekinddescribed,feed

on said sheets or cards, counter apparatus actuated by the passage ofsuccessive sheets or cards, a magazine for receiving the cards from'themachine, and a gate against which said cards rest in said magazine bygravity, and clutch mechanism connected to operate said gate, saidclutch mechanism being controlled 'by said counter apparatus, wherebywhen the latter has been actuated by the passage of a predeterminednumber of cards it automatically permits'said clutch to operate andthereby discharge the cards from said magazine.

80. In a machine of the kind described,feedingmechanism for feedingsheets or cards in succession, operating mechanism to operate lngmechanism for feeding sheets or cards in, succession, operatingmechanism to operate on said sheets orcards', counter apparatus acpasses, and left inoperative when no card is passing, a wheel operatedthereby, a clutch comprising an idle part and a movable partcontinuously moving during the movement of said feeding mechanism, meanscarried by said wheel for locking said two parts of the clutch togetherat predetermined intervals,

and connections between said gate and said normally idle part of saidclutch for operating the gate by the movement of the latter.

31. In a machine ofthe kind described,feeding mechanism for feedingsheets or cards in succession, operating mechanism to operate on saidsheets or cards, counter apparatus actuated by the passage of successivesheets or cards, a magazine for receiving the cards from the machine,and a gate for retaining the cards in said magazine, said countermechanism including, a clutch, part of which is connected to operatesaid gate and is normally idle, and the other part of which is normallyin motion, means for connecting said idle and moving parts of theclutch, said means including a dog, a latch normally out of the path ofsaid dog and connected to a movable part of the machine, to be moved insynchronism with the passage of the cards, a counter actuated by thepassage of the cards, and means operated by said counter atpredetermined intervals for shifting said latch into the path of saiddog, whereby said clutch is caused to operate said gate to dischargepredetermined numbers of cards.

32. In a machine of the kind described, means for supplying sheets orcards in succession to be operated upon, feeding mechanism for feedingsaid cards, operating mechanism to operate upon said cards successively,discharge mechanism for discharging said cards when finished, anddetectors for preventing the feeding into the machine of more cards uponthe stoppage or improper action of cards already going through themachine, said detectors being located in said feeding mechanism betweenthe entrance ofthe cards thereto and said operating mechanism, andmechanism connected with and operated by said detectors forautomatically stopping the delivery of any more cards to said feedingmechanism.

33. In a machine of the kind described, means for supplying sheets orcards in succession to be operated upon, feeding mechanism for feedingsaid cards, operating mechanism to operate upon said cards successively,discharge mechanism for discharging said cards when finished, anddetectors for pre venting the feeding into the machine of more cardsupon the stoppage or improper action of cards'already going through themachine, said detectors being located in said feeding mechanism betweenthe entrance of the cards thereto and said operating mechanism,mechanism connected with and operated by said detectors forautomatically stopping the delivery of anymore cards to said feedingmechanism, and other detectors similarly operating said automaticstopping mechanism and located at said discharge mechanism for detectingan improper discharging of the cards.

34. In a machine of the kind described, means for delivering sheets orcards in succession, feeding mechanism therefor, operating mechanismincluding cutters for separating said sheets into a plurality of stripsor cards, deflectors for defiectinga portion thereof in one direction,and the remainder in another direction, an electric circuit, a detectorin the path of one portion of said cards, said detector including a partprojecting from a rock-shaft, the rocking of said shaft by said detectorserving to bring said electric circuit into operation, a clutchmechanism and trip therefor, the operation of said clutch memberstopping the further feeding of cards to the machine.

35. In a machine of the kind described, means for delivering sheets orcards in succession, feeding mechanism therefor, punching mechanism andcutting mechanism, detectors in the path of said cards, a clutchcontrolling the delivery of cards to said feeding mechanism, and anelectric circuit actuating said clutch and controlled by said detectors,whereby the improper passage of a card serves to operate the adjacentdetector and thereby automatically stop the further feeding of cards tothe machine.

36. Inamachineofthekinddescribed,feeding mechanism for feeding sheets orcards in succession, operating mechanism to operate on said sheets orcards, counter apparatus actuated by the passage of successive sheets orcards, a magazine for receiving the cards from the machine, and a gateagainst which said cards rest in said magazine by gravity, and meansactuated by the counter apparatus for operating said gate.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID E. HUNTER.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL, GEO. W. GREGORY.

